Munira Mirza
| Use attributes for filter ! | |
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Born | Oldham |
| United Kingdom | |
| Spouse | Dougie Smith |
| Party | Conservative Party |
| Education | University of Kent |
| Mansfield College, Oxford | |
| Oldham Sixth Form College | |
| Books | The Politics of Culture: The Case for Universalism |
| Living Apart Together: British Muslims and the Paradox of Multiculturalism | |
| Date of Reg. | |
| Date of Upd. | |
| ID | 2531306 |
Munira Mirza Life story
Munira Mirza is Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit, a post to which she was appointed by incoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 24 July 2019. She previously worked under Johnson as Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture when he was Mayor of London.
Nadine Dorries book and Dr No: The Plot thickens
... Mr Smith is also the husband of Munira Mirza, a close ally of Boris Johnson, Mr Johnson was forced to resign, after mass resignations from his own ministers...
Boris Johnson urged to retract Savile remark after Starmer protest
... Last week, his former head of policy and longstanding aide, Munira Mirza, Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, who was with Sir Keir at the time, tweeted: " Intimidation, harassment and lies have no place in our democracy...
No 10 set for more changes as PM seeks to calm MPs
... The latter led No 10 policy chief Munira Mirza to resign, while four other aides - including his chief of staff and private secretary - also resigned last week...
Boris Johnson names new team after No 10 party turmoil
... But policy chief Munira Mirza quit over the PM s false claim that Labour leader Sir Keir failed to prosecute Savile when he was director of public prosecutions, and his refusal to apologise...
Boris Johnson: Voters are furious so PM must go, says former minister
... No 10 policy chief Munira Mirza quit on Thursday, describing Mr Johnson s comments on Sir Keir as " scurrilous"...
No 10 denies Boris Johnson has lost control after raft of resignations
... But the exit of head of policy Munira Mirza and policy advisor Elena Narozanski had not been planned...
Munira Mirza: The student radical who became 'Boris's brain'
...Munira Mirza, one of Boris Johnson s closest aides, has quit, blaming what she called a " scurrilous" attack by the prime minister on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer...
Two senior aides to Boris Johnson resign from No 10
... Director of communications Jack Doyle confirmed his exit shortly after the departure of policy head Munira Mirza...
Munira Mirza: The student radical who became 'Boris's brain'
Munira Mirza , one of Boris Johnson 's closest aides, has quit, blaming what she called a " scurrilous" attack by the Prime Minister on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer . But who is she?
For 14 years Munira Mirza has been at Boris Johnson 's side. Through all the tribulations of his time as London mayor, Brexit campaigner, foreign secretary and Prime Minister , she has been a source of advice, willing And Able to challenge Her Boss .
Ms Mirza, sometimes known as " Boris's brain" is far from being a lifelong Conservative, having once been a communist activist.
The 43-year-old factory worker's daughter, brought up in Oldham, also comes from a very different background to Old Etonian Mr Johnson.
Like most advisers, she is not usually in The Public eye. But in 2018 she wrote an article defending Mr Johnson after He Said Muslim and was accused of Islamophobia.
" He knows far more about Islam and Islamic cultures than most of the politicians who are now lining up to attack him, " she wrote on The Conservative Home website.
But Mr Johnson's attack on Sir Keir Starmer in The Commons last week - in which he falsely said the Labour leader, a former director of public prosecutions, had failed to prosecute the serial paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile - was not something she deemed defensible.
" This Was not the usual cut and thrust of politics; it was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse, " she wrote in her resignation letter, published in
'Desperately sad'Even then, Ms Mirza appears to retain much of her admiration for Mr Johnson, tinged by disappointment.
" You are a Better Man than many of your detractors will ever understand, which is why it is so desperately sad that you let yourself down by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition, " she wrote.
Ms Mirza was closer to Mr Johnson than The Other senior officials who have resigned from Downing Street amid the ongoing furore over parties held during Lockdown - director of communications Jack Doyle , chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, policy Adviser Elena Narozanski and the Prime Minister 's principal Private Secretary , Martin Reynolds .
Ms Narozanski - An Education specialist and amateur Boxer - was involved in schools projects When Mr Johnson was London mayor and was a close ally of Ms Mirza.
For a politician often regarded as a loner, despite his clubbable persona, Ms Mirza's departure is a big loss to the Prime Minister - an independent voice gone from the sometimes rather sealed world of Downing Street.
Born in 1978 to parents who had come to the UK from Pakistan, Ms Mirza went to a comprehensive school before studying English at Oxford University.
While there she joined The Revolutionary Communist Party, but during her twenties, frustrated at what she thought to be a lack of free thought on the far left, she went through an ideological transformation.
Having completed a PhD in sociology at the University of Kent, she started work for Policy Exchange , the Think Tank Set Up by Conservatives Michael Gove , Francis Maude and Nick Boles .
'Too Late for me'Her intellectual independence was noticed by Mr Johnson, for whom she started working as an Arts Adviser - having spent time at the Tate Gallery and the Royal Society of Arts - When he was London mayor.
She was later promoted to become deputy mayor in charge of education and culture.
Ms Mirza has stayed by Mr Johnson's side Until Now , being made head of the No 10 policy unit When he became Prime Minister in 2019.
She was involved in the manifesto which helped the Conservatives to a landslide general election victory later that year, taking many traditional Labour seats in northern England and The Midlands with promises to " get Brexit done" " level up" the UK and put more money into the NHS, policing and schools.
Just over two years after that enormous political high, Ms Mirza leaves Downing Street projecting a sense not of fury, but of regret and frustration at the PM's comment on Sir Keir.
" I appreciate that our political culture is not forgiving When people say sorry, " she wrote in her resignation letter, " but regardless, it is The Right thing to do. It is not Too Late For You but, I'm sorry to say, it is Too Late for me. "
Source of news: bbc.com
